A group of friends and family recently took on an epic 2-day fundraising challenge to the summit of Snowdon, then down the mile-long Velocity Zip Wire to raise money for The Wallich.

Grace Brownfield tells us about their incredible weekend:

“My friends and I have always been passionate about tackling homelessness. We’re very aware of how lucky we are to have a place to call home – knowing that, but for a different turn of circumstances, it really could be any one of us finding ourselves homeless. With over 15,000 people in Wales currently homeless, the work of charities like The Wallich is absolutely vital and we wanted to be able to do something to support that.

So that’s how we found ourselves in North Wales on a July weekend, taking on our Snowdon challenge to raise money for The Wallich. Saturday saw us climb the 1085m of Snowdon in (unexpected) beautiful sunshine. The few difficult, particularly steep bits were more than made up for by the breathtaking views the walk offered, and given that all we’d done to prepare was some long walks round the park, it was surprisingly manageable getting to the top. There was a real sense of achievement when we made it to the summit, proudly displaying our Wallich tshirts.

Not content to leave it at that, on Sunday we travelled to Penrhyn Quarry in Bethesda to take on the Velocity Zip Wire. At a mile long, reaching speeds in excess of 100mph, it’s the longest zip line in Europe and the fastest in the world. We hadn’t heard about the zip wire until we saw it suggested as a fundraising idea by The Wallich and I can honestly say it’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.

The course starts with a “mini” zip wire (which still reaches speeds of up to 45mph), before driving to the top of the Quarry to complete the mile-long Velocity zip wire. By this point, the spectacular views had pretty much put to bed any fear and we just couldn’t wait to get going. The zip wire did not disappoint. Reaching speeds in excess of 100mph, it felt as close to flying as I can imagine humans get. Screaming all the way down (more out of excitement than nerves!) it was the perfect way to put the ‘fun’ into fundraising!

We’re so pleased to have been able to raise money for The Wallich and have already been hearing great things about what the money will help support. The whole experience was so easy to arrange and we were supported with everything we needed from The Wallich. More importantly, we had an amazing time and I would urge anyone considering doing something for The Wallich to just do it – you won’t regret it!”

The group have raised over £2,000 for our Shoreline Project in Cardiff. We’ll look forward to updating you on the amazing difference this donation will make to the project, and the people who live there.